Depression hits.
It's been some time now and there is only so much I can do alone to pass the time and occupy my mind and body, but the garden has benefitted as has the house.
Out of desperation I sat down and wrote out all the jobs I could think of which I'd completed during the Lock down. It is quite an insane list, no wonder I hurt so much.
Here it is:
House
• Sorted walk in cupboard upstairs
• Sorted shed
• Cleaned cupboards
• Sorted shed
• Cleaned cupboards
• Print out pictures for walls
• Paste photos of places visited on walls
Garden
• Finished clearing area by side of greenhouse, dug over and incorporated plant matter
• Moved and emptied both plastic composters
• Spread contents of composters onto tarpaulins and sorted what could be spread and what needed to go back; made sure the invertebrates had food to eat once returned to composter bins
• Replaced composters and partially refilled
• Supported raspberries by greenhouse
• Dug adjoined sided long border incorporating further quantities of plant matter and shingle to lighten the clay
• Dug front, long border seen from house
• Dug border in front garden, weeded, incorporating plenty of plant based matter
• Dug Tony's side long border, ditto as above
• Dug elevated borders adjoined side, ditto above
• Built large composter at top of garden out of spare roof tiles; filled it with weeds and plant material removed from long borders
• Moved and emptied both plastic composters
• Spread contents of composters onto tarpaulins and sorted what could be spread and what needed to go back; made sure the invertebrates had food to eat once returned to composter bins
• Replaced composters and partially refilled
• Supported raspberries by greenhouse
• Dug adjoined sided long border incorporating further quantities of plant matter and shingle to lighten the clay
• Dug front, long border seen from house
• Dug border in front garden, weeded, incorporating plenty of plant based matter
• Dug Tony's side long border, ditto as above
• Dug elevated borders adjoined side, ditto above
• Built large composter at top of garden out of spare roof tiles; filled it with weeds and plant material removed from long borders
• Built 1m sq composter and placed that on adjoined side; partially filled this one with material removed for that border
• Cloud trimmed cornus tree at bottom of garden
• Cut and sculpted remaining cornus shrubs around garden ready for Spring growth
• Pruned roses ready for Spring growth
• Shifted large grab bag of compost off drive; spread over borders back and front - literally fell over for 3 days in so much shoulder and back pain
• Planted out annuals in 2 borders; weeded and pruned out Cornus overgrowth as I went
• Removed a very old and well established dog rose root with over 6 ft of top growth - that is one of the last shrubs from the original garden I inherited
• Dug over area where just removed dog rose and incorporated plenty of plant matter ready for planting out
• Cleaned greenhouse inside and out
• Built x2 sets of shelving out of pallets for greenhouse
• Built skids for floor of greenhouse and waterproof bases; these will be for larger potted plants to grow on
• Double painted all 3 items so as to protect them from the damp of winter
• Installed all items in greenhouse; re-organised to accommodate them
• Had concrete patio around house cleaned; moved all large pots to facilitate - they were heavy!
• Shift topsoil delivery into back garden ready for re-potting large pot bound shrubs
• Cloud trimmed cornus tree at bottom of garden
• Cut and sculpted remaining cornus shrubs around garden ready for Spring growth
• Pruned roses ready for Spring growth
• Shifted large grab bag of compost off drive; spread over borders back and front - literally fell over for 3 days in so much shoulder and back pain
• Planted out annuals in 2 borders; weeded and pruned out Cornus overgrowth as I went
• Removed a very old and well established dog rose root with over 6 ft of top growth - that is one of the last shrubs from the original garden I inherited
• Dug over area where just removed dog rose and incorporated plenty of plant matter ready for planting out
• Cleaned greenhouse inside and out
• Built x2 sets of shelving out of pallets for greenhouse
• Built skids for floor of greenhouse and waterproof bases; these will be for larger potted plants to grow on
• Double painted all 3 items so as to protect them from the damp of winter
• Installed all items in greenhouse; re-organised to accommodate them
• Had concrete patio around house cleaned; moved all large pots to facilitate - they were heavy!
• Shift topsoil delivery into back garden ready for re-potting large pot bound shrubs
• Build 50 cm sq potting table for greenhouse and install
• Clean collapsible table for travelling instead of potting and started thinking about a mobile kitchen for boot of car
• Clean collapsible table for travelling instead of potting and started thinking about a mobile kitchen for boot of car
Still To Do
• Re-pot all shrubs into larger containers in delivered topsoil
• Re-pot bamboo once thinned in topsoil
• Plant out remaining annuals
• Plant out fig into ground behind red rose
• Create a kitchen assembly for boot of car
• Boxes for storage of tea making items, etc either create or buy
• Re-pot bamboo once thinned in topsoil
• Plant out remaining annuals
• Plant out fig into ground behind red rose
• Create a kitchen assembly for boot of car
• Boxes for storage of tea making items, etc either create or buy
I've kept busy and I am proud at the list of jobs I have achieved. I could have sat and binged on front of the TV or eaten myself into oblivion out of boredom.
The list is helping.
I don't feel quite so depressed any more